Fly for the Night, Fighting for Flight
by reiko.souma
Summary: Anybody who thought that the Cat was the only curious creature, hasn't met Reiko yet. "What doesn't kill you, will only make you stronger," isn't exactly on the woman's mind when she ventures off to follow up on something that she'd stumbled onto near the Main House. One-shot. (One of the few T-rated stories that I'll ever write.)


Summary: Being brought to a standstill by mere events has only happened once, when Death came to visit loved ones who weren't so loving. A rather unlikely character comes to play and starts to stir the pot...how so? One-shot.

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket, its characters, and anything affiliated with it are the property of Natsuki Takaya. Reiko Souma, any references to her former pediatrician Shourim Manti, and her family belong to me.

* * *

"Excuse me, Haru-kun. Have you seen Souma-san?" Yūki asked. Hatsuharu shook his head no before asking why. "No reason, really. It's just that she's been walking with me after school lately, and I don't see her today." Giving the duo-haired teen his thanks, the silver-haired Sohma continued walking down the hallway. He had a student council meeting to get to, one that would hopefully move quickly for a change.

Along the way came recollections of the reason for the female in question keeping Yūki company. Both of them were under the Curse with different vengeful spirits, only Reiko Souma was originally from America. Her spirit also didn't have a place as one of the Jūnishi, and her Curse apparently followed slightly different guidelines. The Rat was digressing, though. He's been kept in good company from the Butterfly because she didn't like to stay in one place for very long. Doing so against her will led to the feeling of being confined and triggered her transformation into a one-inch butterfly that was pink and white. True to her Spirit's signature trait, Reiko was a free spirit who bravely opposed the rules set forth by the Main House: no unannounced visits from the Butterfly or the Cat, and no opposing Akito behind her back. At least Reiko was smart enough to not oppose Akito to her face, albeit she had her loopholes to exploit.

Most importantly, Yūki could tell that Reiko was starting to become lonely. She missed being able to freely spend time with the rest of the Sohma, especially during summer vacation. Akito had kept all of the Jūnishi to herself, taking advantage of Reiko's prior hospitalisation for something the God herself was responsible for. Now here he was, three months later, finding relief whenever the older woman walked with him. She didn't have to, but she did, since Tohru has been going straight from school to work lately.

 _Sigh._ Yūki didn't want to go to this meeting today.

—•—•—•—

It wasn't like Reiko to skip out on meeting somebody once she had given her word. She had promised the third-year that she would walk with him from school to Shigure's house as often as she could, and only when Tohru wasn't around. As nice and friendly as the brunette was, Reiko would have none of it. As it was, she was skipping out on waiting for Yūki today because of something she had spotted earlier in the afternoon. A flurry of black seemed to hang just outside of the Main House during the pink-haired woman's walk through the wooded area, but the black didn't belong to the Horse. Reiko would recognise Isuzu in an instant.

She hadn't been able to make out the black very well because of a tree blocking some of her line of vision. Not only that, but she was trying to avoid Hatori. So far, that was working out quite well. If she wanted to find out more about that flurry of black that she had seen though, then she had to take the risk of being found by the Dragon. _That man...always persistent to check on me without actually chasing me down. Yet he'll chase the others down if they avoid him too many times._

Reiko shook her head, not realising that she had slowed to a complete stop in her current walk. As much as she wanted to look after Hatori from the usual distance that she was used to watching him from, now wasn't the time to think about the man she was in love with. He definitely wasn't the flurry of black that she had spotted this morning. Reiko wanted to know more, much more. Curiosity piqued to its peak level as her feet treaded the same path that she had taken this morning.

 _It was around here that I saw it._ The tree that had originally blocked her full view was now the woman's landmark. She was close enough to the side of the Main House to touch the outside walls if she was to move any closer. The bottom of the door was at level with her shoulders, along with the wraparound porch. Reiko could easily long jump her way onto it if she wanted to. All she had to to was move back just enough to run and gain momentum. Three years of being the captain of Kaibara's track team and running to countless victories helped with that greatly.

There would be no running and jumping, though. Bad vibes suddenly came over her at the thought of knocking on the door, making her feel uneasy. This was new. Since when was Reiko one to feel this way just from the mere thought of knocking on a door and greeting whichever Sohma was behind it? It wasn't as if she was going to dive headfirst into a pool of sea-deep water. No, Reiko didn't like water and wouldn't do such a thing anyways.

Different is what this was. Whatever was behind that door had to be there for a reason; it couldn't be a good one either. If the flurry of black that she had seen this morning had anything to do with this new uneasiness that she now felt, then maybe she should turn around and leave. Forget about this idea of hers for today, collect herself, and come back tomorrow. She should have just waited for Yūki at the school instead of coming here to satisfy her curiosity.

No. She was here now. No turning back! It was now or never, bad vibes or good. Reiko would just make sure to say a longer prayer to Fate was all. _What are you kidding? This has got to be one of your stupider ideas!_ Maybe it was. So what if it was? Taking several steps backward, the woman prepared to run and long jump her way into the balcony. She had decided to go ahead with knocking on the door.

Suddenly, the door started to slide open. "Hello...is anybody out there?" A woman's voice, belonging to somebody whose face Reiko couldn't even see, called. Shivers colder than Antarctica itself climbed up and down the pink-haired woman's body. What exactly was going on here?! Why was she so afraid of this woman, all of a sudden? Reiko didn't understand this at all, not even as the door slid open wider. "A visitor?"

The woman had been caught red-handed! Both feet felt cemented into the ground like thirty kilogram cinder blocks that had been moulded around her. As a single pale hand took hold of the open door, the arm attached to it was next to be revealed. Then the other arm showed itself, and finally a woman with coal for eyes and the blackest of flowing hair. Mystery solved. This woman was the flurry of black that she saw, so let's go home now!

Nope. Reiko's legs had other plans. Both of them shook violently, along with the rest of her body. Her deep pink eyes widened in terror as one word crossed her mind:

Raven.

—•—•—•—

 _Damn those Student Council members._ Once again, the meeting had run into the evening hours. Yūki was quite surprised to find not Reiko, but Hatsuharu and Kisa, waiting outside. "Haru-kun, Kisa-chan, how come you're still here?" Especially at this hour, when Kisa is usually home with her mother.

"Kazuma-kun can't find Reiko-san anywhere," Hatsuharu answered. He was having a hard time keeping his voice under control and his emotions in check. One push of the button too many, or in the wrong way, and he would go from his natural friendly White self to the polar opposite Black bastard personality. Avoiding the latter was quite important.

"She probably left town again." But, the Cow shook his head no.

"Her phone keeps ringing its way to voicemail, and she's not returning anybody's calls. He's worried that she might have gotten sick." Good enough reason! The two boys, plus the silently worried Kisa (who had insisted on coming along), set off on their search for the missing Reiko.

—•—•—•—

"What's the matter? Can't you speak?" The black-haired woman asked with a sneer. She stared directly at the terrified Reiko, who was far too beyond her level of anxiety to even transform. "Ah, but perhaps you came here to find out about me." Stepping outside, the woman's black foot-length dress flowed with each footstep as she walked to the edge of the porch. So did her hair. Then she bent down and studied Reiko's look of absolute fear better. "I am Ren Sohma...the mother of the one you call God. Widow of the man you used to call God."

Mother of God?! The mother of God was like that of a raven?! How Reiko was even conscious still, she couldn't even tell anybody if they were to ask. She didn't even know how this was possible when this Ren was clearly the worst fear that she had. And she was meeting her for the first time!

Still studying Reiko's terrified frame, the charcoal-haired woman of her forties twisted her face into that of a devilish grin. That was it, she was the devil incarnate as a humanised raven! That just had to be it! "Oh? Bubblegum pink hair...azalea pink eyes...skin whiter than white itself...could you be that one that transforms into the Butterfly, by any chance? Yes, I've heard talk about you stepping on Akito's toes with that quite a bit."

No. Fucking. Way. How the fuck did Ren know about Reiko's Cursed form?! Someone had to be telling this psycho these things. Yes, psycho. Creep. Bitch! There was no shortage of words to describe the woman kneeling before the American right now. Everything about this was wrong in the worst way possible; worse, she was having so much trouble breathing. Reiko soon fell to her knees as a result.

"Reiko-san!" A male shouted. He sounded so far away. "Ren-san! What's going on over there?" Hatori had joined in on the search for the missing woman as well, but for one crucial reason: Reiko was his patient, her anemia of concern to him after she'd successfully avoided over twenty of her appointments with him. His responsibility was to his patients first, so his black bag was with him for that reason.

"Hatori, look over there!" Shigure was with Hatori and was the first to point the terrified Reiko out to his close friend and cousin. "I'll deal with her. Hurry up, and get Rei-chan out of here!" Like the doctor needed to be told twice. He took advantage of the Dog coaxing Ren back inside and hurried over to Reiko. There was no time to hesitate. Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her back to his doctor's office. He had to bring her there. She was clearly in bad shape; he had to find out just how bad before going from there.

No longer seeing Ren, the first thing Reiko did was cover her face and fight her way into a corner with a scream. "No! It's okay, Reiko. She's not here. You're in my office. You're safe." He simply couldn't examine her until she was calm, but the man had to admit that he's never seen the woman in such a terrible place emotionally before. Had Ren's very presence frightened her that much?

He was putting his foot down. Twenty-plus avoided appointments, and now this, meant taking Reiko to the hospital whether she liked it or not. This was a must. He didn't have all of the necessary equipment to treat her anyways.

"No...stop it...keep her away from me!" Reiko cried. "She'll eat me...she almost ate me up! Help me please!" Throwing her arms around him, she clung to him for dear life. His heart broke at what he was seeing before him, and she wasn't even his girlfriend! That didn't mean that he lacked compassion altogether. As a matter of fact, he really didn't know why it was that he wanted to take all of Reiko's pain away himself. His obligation as a doctor? Definitely. Being like family? Sure, but she wasn't any relative of his. She was...his patient, and he was letting her hug him whilst slowly bringing his arms around her to comfort her and to calm her down. This was the only way he could think of before he could take her to the hospital.

One thing scared him the most right now. Why did he care about Reiko enough that he was suddenly starting to become scared of losing her some day?

* * *

And...yes. That's the end. This was a sudden decision to write up on my phone after thinking about it for the last several years, so here's the final product! If any of you are like me in any way, then you relate when it comes to writing out your emotions as stories or even journals. This one is a psychological parallel that symbolises one thing that scares me more than anything else in life, so thank you to those who stuck through in reading to the end. :)


End file.
